ALL eyes will be on Manchester’s National Speedway Stadium tonight as Belle Vue Aces host Somerset Rebels in a meeting that could decide Swindon Robins’ play-off fate.

An inspired end to their SGB Premiership campaign has seen Mark Lemon’s Aces rocket up the table into a top-four spot, consequently knocking the Robins down into fifth with only a handful of meetings remaining.

Should Belle Vue defeat the Rebels at home tonight, Alun Rossiter’s Robins will miss out on a chance of defending their SGB Premiership play-off championship.

However, a win for Somerset would make tomorrow night’s meeting against the Aces at the Abbey Stadium a play-off decider – with Swindon needing to win by seven points or more to secure a top-four spot.

The delicate situation is out of the Robins’ hands, although the Rebels have managed to pick up league points in all of their last five league meetings – making a win in Manchester tonight a realistic possibility.

Robins boss Rossiter accepts his men need some good fortune, but at the same time underlined the realistic possibility of a ‘winner-takes-all’ fixture at the Abbey on Thursday.

“It doesn’t matter which teams are racing against each other, all meetings right now seem to be close,” said Rossiter.

“Thursday will be a tough meeting for us, but the whole play-off situation is out of our hands. We’ve only got ourselves to blame for it, but that’s simply the way it is.

“It would be nice to finish off the league campaign with a good turnout with some support for the boys. We had a good crowd on Monday when we hosted Poole, we were pleased with that.

“If we’ve got something to race for, it would be very nice to finish on a high, but until we know the situation we’ll have to sit tight and hope Somerset can do the business.”

Belle Vue won’t be at full strength for tonight’s meeting, with teenage sensation Dan Bewley sidelined after breaking in leg in five places following a horror crash while racing for Workington Comets.

Rossiter added: “Belle Vue have lost Dan Bewley, and around that track it will cost the Aces a few points with his light weight.”

Tonight’s meeting is being screened live on BT Sport, with tapes up at 7.30pm.

Meanwhile, the Robins will host Premiership leaders King’s Lynn Stars in their first leg of their Knockout Cup semi-final at the Abbey on Monday (7.30pm). A date for the second leg has yet to be announced.